Publications

Micropaleontological data provide a strong actualistic basis for detailed interpretations of Quaternary paleoenvironmental change. The 90 m-thick Quaternary record of the Albemarle Embayment in the mid-Atlantic coastal plain of the USA provides an excellent opportunity to use such an approach in a region where the details of Quaternary environmental change are poorly known. The...

One of the many challenges in studying methane hydrate is that it is unstable at typical surface pressure and temperature conditions. To enable methane hydrates and hydrate-bearing sediments to be formed, analyzed, and experimented with, the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Woods Hole, MA collaborated in the development of the Gas...

Near-bed wave orbital velocities and shear stresses are important parameters in many sediment-transport and hydrodynamic models of the coastal ocean, estuaries, and lakes. Simple methods for estimating bottom orbital velocities from surface-wave statistics such as significant wave height and peak period often are inaccurate except in very shallow water. This paper briefly reviews...

We are developing a three-dimensional numerical model that implements algorithms for sediment transport and evolution of bottom morphology in the coastal-circulation model Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS v3.0), and provides a two-way link between ROMS and the wave model Simulating Waves in the Nearshore (SWAN) via the Model-Coupling Toolkit. The coupled model is applicable for...

Systematic improvements in algorithmic design of regional ocean circulation models have led to significant enhancement in simulation ability across a wide range of space/time scales and marine system types. As an example, we briefly review the Regional Ocean Modeling System, a member of a general class of three-dimensional, free-surface, terrain-following numerical models. Noteworthy

The Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrates Joint Industry Project (JIP) is a consortium of production and service companies and some government agencies formed to address the challenges that gas hydrates pose for deepwater exploration and production. In partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and with scientific assistance from the U.S. Geological Survey and academic partners, the JIP has...

Physical property measurements and consolidation behavior are different between sediments from Atwater Valley and Keathley Canyon in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Void ratio and bulk density of Atwater Valley sediment from a seafloor mound (holes ATM1 and ATM2) show little effective stress (or depth) dependence to 27 meters below seafloor (mbsf), perhaps owing to fluidized transport...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Oceanographic Time-Series Measurement Database contains oceanographic observations made as part of studies designed to increase understanding of sediment transport processes and associated dynamics. Analysis of these data has contributed to more accurate prediction of the movement and fate of sediments and other suspended materials in the coastal ocean...

This paper presents a new, non-invasive means of quantifying groundwater discharge into marine waters using an eddy correlation approach. The method takes advantage of the fact that, in virtually all aquatic environments, the dominant mode of vertical transport near the sediment–water interface is turbulent mixing. The technique thus relies on measuring simultaneously the fluctuating...

The shoaling of the nonlinear internal tide in Massachusetts Bay is studied with a fully nonlinear and nonhydrostatic model. The results are compared with current and temperature observations obtained during the August 1998 Massachusetts Bay Internal Wave Experiment and observations from a shorter experiment which took place in September 2001. The model shows how the approaching...

In MREA and many other marine applications, it is common to have multiple models running with different grids, run by different institutions. Techniques and tools are described for low-bandwidth delivery of data from large multidimensional datasets, such as those from meteorological and oceanographic models, directly into generic analysis and visualization tools. Output is stored using...

The response of a barrier island to an extreme storm depends in part on the surge elevation relative to the height and extent of the foredunes which can exhibit considerable variability alongshore. While it is recognized that alongshore variations in dune height and width direct barrier island response to storm surge, the underlying causes of the alongshore variation remain poorly...